In the midst of these uncertain times, we will need all the help we can get. We’ve put together a useful slide presentation entitled “Pandemic and Recession Survival Strategies for Kiwi Businesses“.

This comprehensive PowerPoint 165-slide presentation is designed to help you adopt effective strategies to survive and thrive despite the coronavirus and the accompanying recession – information that you can easily present to your team and your clients, bringing everyone up to speed on steps you can and should take in these challenging times.

All presentations are unbranded, so you can add your own branding and comments.

The presentation is available immediately and covers:

Coping with the Pandemic
Consumer behaviours that we can expect as we move through the various alert stages, and the implications for infrastructure and organisational capabilities.

We examine six key consumer behaviour thresholds identified by Nielsen research and examine the implications as you move towards “the new normal”.

Adjusting to Diminished Demand
36% of UK marketers expect to see a drop in demand of more than 20%. We explore the strategies that you need to put in place to cope with both the short term and the long term,

including four key business strategies identified by a Harvard Business Review study of 4700 public companies.

We examine the relative effectiveness of:

• a focus on cost-cutting
• focus on promotion
• a combination of prevention and promotion
• reducing costs in a more measured fashion

What Happened in Past Recessions
We look at research data from the 1982/83 and 2007/8 recessions and review the strategies that enabled businesses to recover more quickly and continue to grow afterwards.

The presentation also examines the impact of past recessions on New Zealand and how long it took us to recover.

What Brands are Already Doing to Respond to the Crisis

We examine a number of actions that both New Zealand and international organisations are taking in direct response to the coronavirus, taking both inspiration and guidance from what leading companies are doing.

Preventative Measures Already in Place
Many organisations also taking steps to eCovid-19. We highlight a number of useful examples.

Offering Financial Relief for Beleaguered Consumers
As has happened in the past, several car companies have reached out to their customers, offering deferred payment in the event of financial problems. We share details of some of the first movers.

Brands are Switching Focus to Online
As consumers find themselves at home, whether through self-isolation or simply to work in a safer environment, organisations are providing goods and services based around online initiatives. We look at companies that are already active and review the possibilities.

Actions You Should Take

In this next section, we suggest specific actions that you can take to reassure your customers, provide them with the assistance that they require and communicate in a calm and effective manner.

Devote More Attention to Digital
We’ve already discussed the fact that both consumers and businesses are turning their attentions online. Now we suggest some specific actions that you can take to ensure that you are communicating effectively with your customers, through the media that they are most likely to use.

Expand Your Ecommerce
Consumers aren’t just making greater use of digital devices, they’re also shopping more online. We examine the statistics and talk about strategies that you should use to sell more goods through ecommerce. And we also sound a warning for those companies that are relatively new to the practice.

Find Alternatives to Live Events
Live events are unlikely to be happening for some time. We suggest some alternatives that you should use to keep your brand top of mind, by considering consumer needs and providing value through these challenging times.

Afterwards: Seven Strategies for Surviving and Prospering in a Recession

Even when the pandemic is officially over, will still be faced with its aftermath: a lingering recession. We look back at what we learned from the 2008/2009 recession and discuss meaningful steps that you can take to optimise your opportunities in tough times and prepare to accelerate once the dark clouds begin to lift.

Amongst the topics we cover:

• adjusting your offerings for recession-weary consumers
• Prevailing Kiwi attitudes during the 2008/2009 recession and what they mean for your marketing activities in 2020
• Goodbye to the bling (at least for now)
• The key psychological segments that dominate during recessionary times, and strategies and tactics for each segment
• How analysing your competitors will enable you to get ahead of them in the battle for market share
• The vital importance of loyalty
• How to empower your dealers and influencers
• The power of Big Bang marketing

—

Your customers will spend again. If you can adapt and offer them value in this time of uncertainty, you will win their loyalty and when normal life resumes and they do spend again, it will be with you.

The businesses that will survive this disruption “are not the strongest or the most intelligent, but the most adaptable to change.” (Sequoia Capital)

—

ABOUT THE REPORT

Oh, in case you’re wondering who we are to be preparing such a report:  the PANDEMIC & RECESSION SURVIVAL STRATEGIES FOR KIWI BUSINESSES presentation has been prepared (like many other trend and insight reports) by Michael Carney, long-time adman, author, media director and strategic planning director. Michael is also the creator/training director of Netmarketing Courses, which provides online training across a wide range of digital marketing disciplines. See our About page for more.